TILDEN GROVES HOLD. CORP. v. ORLANDO/ORANGE CTY. EXPRESSWAY
| Decision Date | 08 March 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 5D00-3618.,5D00-3618. |
| Parties | TILDEN GROVES HOLDING CORP., Appellant, v. ORLANDO/ORANGE COUNTY EXPRESSWAY, etc., et al., Appellees. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Craig B. Willis of Fixel & Maguire, P.A., Tallahassee, for Appellant.
C. Ken Bishop and Richard N. Milian of Broad & Cassel, P.A., Orlando, for Appellees.
Tilden Groves Holding Corporation (Tilden Groves) appeals from a non-final order granting the Orlando/Orange County Expressway Authority's (Expressway Authority) Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540 motion to set aside a stipulated final judgment. This court has jurisdiction pursuant to Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.130(a)(5).
The Expressway Authority filed its petition in eminent domain seeking to condemn certain real property owned by Tilden Groves. Tilden Groves leased the property to Manheim Remarketing Limited Partnership, a Florida Limited Partnership d/b/a Florida Auto Auction of Orlando and Florida Auto Auction of Orlando, Inc. (Auto Auction). Tilden Groves and the Expressway Authority stipulated to an order of taking which entitled the Expressway Authority to take possession of Tilden Groves's property rights. Auto Auction and the Expressway Authority then entered a stipulated order of taking as to Auto Auction's leasehold rights to the property. This left the value of the parties' interests to be determined. Tilden Groves and Auto Auction were represented by separate counsel from the outset of this proceeding.
Tilden Groves and the Expressway Authority reached a mediated settlement agreement that read in part:
A stipulated final judgment was submitted to the trial court and entered. The judgment reflected the terms of the settlement agreement. The judgment did not address Auto Auction or its interest in the property.2
Several months after the judgment was entered, the Expressway Authority filed its "Motion to Require Apportionment of Funds or, in the Alternative, To Set Aside Final Judgment." The Expressway Authority contended that Auto Auction should be bound by the settlement agreement and that a portion of the monies the Expressway Authority had agreed to pay Tilden Groves should be set aside to satisfy the taking of Auto Auction's interest. The trial court granted the Expressway Authority's Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540(b) motion. Tilden Groves appeals the order setting aside the final judgment.
Generally, the standard of review of an order entered pursuant to Rule 1.540(b)3 is gross abuse of discretion. See Bonizo Properties, N.V., Hanwood Investments, N.V. v. Schroeder, 528 So.2d 1304, 1305 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988)
(quoting Schwab & Co. v. Breezy Bay, Inc., 360 So.2d 117 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978)). There is a more stringent standard of review, however, when the final judgment to be vacated follows a mediated settlement agreement:
[C]ases settled in mediation are especially unsuited for the liberal application of a rule [Rule 1.540(b)]allowing rescission of a settlement agreement based on unilateral mistake. Mediation, like arbitration, is an alternative dispute resolution device. It is not to be engaged in casually or carelessly.
Sponga v. Warro, 698 So.2d 621, 625 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997) (emphasis in original); see also Smiles v. Young, 271 So.2d 798, 799 (Fla. 3d DCA 1973)
(). In the instant case, as in Smiles, it must be presumed that the trial court also was setting aside the settlement agreement, thus the more stringent standard of review applies.
The Expressway Authority submits that when it negotiated this settlement, it believed it was negotiating the entire value of the property, including the rights of both Tilden Groves and Auto Auction.4 The language of the settlement agreement is clear, unambiguous, and completely undercuts that assertion. The Expressway Authority expressly agreed to pay Tilden Groves $ 2,378,350.00 and there was no reference to Tilden Groves then paying a portion of that amount to Auto Auction. Obviously, this was a significant mistake.
In certain instances, Florida law allows agreements to be rescinded due to unilateral mistake. See Md. Casualty Co. v. Krasnek, 174 So.2d 541, 542 (Fla.1965)
. This mistake, however, does not allow for that resolution. Compare BMW of North America, Inc. v. Krathen, 471 So.2d 585 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985). The order vacating the final judgment is reversed and the final judgment is reinstated.
REVERSED and REMANDED for proceedings consistent herewith.
In my view, the trial judge should be affirmed in his determination that the Stipulated Final Judgment and the underlying mediated settlement agreement on which the judgment was based, should be set aside based on mistake. At the end of the hearing on the Expressway's motion to either set aside the judgment pursuant to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540(b), or allow apportionment to compensate the leasehold claimant, Auto Auction, against the 2.3 million dollars awarded to Tilden Groves, the court concluded that both parties, the Expressway as well as Tilden Groves, had been operating under different concepts as to what was being mediated, and accordingly there was no meeting of the minds.
Tilden urged that it thought the mediated sum of 2.3 million was to compensate it for its fee interest in the condemned parcel, which did not include any compensation for Auto Auction's leasehold interest. The Expressway urged that the mediation was to determine the value of the total fee, and that out of that sum the Auto Auction's leasehold interest would later be determined or apportioned by the court in subsequent proceedings.
The mediation proceeding did not mention Auto Auction's interest, nor was it a party to the mediation settlement. The majority opinion analysis stops at this point and concludes since the settlement did not bind the Auto Auction, the Expressway loses. But the real issue here, is whether the trial court breached its discretion in concluding the settlement was based on a mistake for which relief should be granted.
The court found that this was not such a gross error or mistake on the part of the Expressway as to make it inappropriate for equitable relief, because of the case law and eminent domain practice and procedure well established in this jurisdiction, known as the "undivided fee rule." As explained in Division of Administration, State of Florida v. Allen, 447 So.2d 1383 (Fla. 5th DCA 1984),5 separate jury trials on the issue of compensation for various kinds of interests in property being condemned are not allowed. The total fee simple value of the property is determined first and other interests, such as a leasehold interests, are apportioned out of that amount in supplemental proceedings by the court. Thus a final judgment is typically entered in eminent domain cases which is all inclusive and resolves the total fee value. Subsequently, the trial court determines the other bundle of rights' values and apportions those interests later, out of the total fee award. Based on this practice, it is understandable why the parties were confused about the subject matter of the mediation.
In this case, the attorney for the Expressway pointed out to the court that no party, including Tilden Groves, offered an appraisal at the mediation or otherwise which attempted to value Tilden Groves' fee interest, less the value of the Auto Auction's leasehold. The only paperwork or appraisals present at the mediation involved the total fee value. All parties must have realized Tilden was not entitled to receive the full amount, since there was a lessee involved. The attorney also pointed out that the settlement agreement had an addendum intended solely for Tilden Groves' benefit which specified that the settlement was based on $80,000 per acre and set a specific value for severance damages. The only purpose for this addendum was to assist Tilden Groves in later apportioning the value of the Auto Auction's leasehold, in a subsequent proceeding with Auto Auction. In addition, the final judgment recited that the 2.3 million was in full settlement of all claims for compensation from Petitioner (Expressway) for the property taken and for all damages of any kind and nature.
The attorneys for Tilden Groves and Auto Auction argued that the proper procedure to follow at this point would be to allow Auto Auction to proceed to a jury trial to determine the value of the fee interest in toto, although it only has a leasehold interest. If the jury determines it is less than 2.3 million, Auto Auction would receive nothing, but if the jury determines it is more than 2.3 million it would receive the overage. Attorneys for the Expressway pointed out there is no case in Florida which has employed such a procedure: two separate adjudications of the value of the fee, which bases the lessee's interest not on a proper...
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